As part of its Public Health Week activities, the Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Health and Human Services will feature a presentation by Vincent DeMarco, public interest policy advocate and the subject of a book by Michael Pertschuk called The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will into Political Power, Monday, April 7, 4:00 PM, in the UNC Charlotte Student Union Theater. This event is being held in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Center for Professional & Applied Ethics and the Graduate Public Health Association. The event is free and open to the public. Click here to register.

DeMarco, a long-time advocate and community organizer for public health causes such as reducing teen smoking, reducing gun violence, and expanding health care access, will discuss his passion and approach to improving public health, particularly his work to build grassroots coalitions to move important public health policies. His approach to impacting policy in Maryland and making public health a top election issue has been a model in other states across the country.

National Public Health Week runs from April 7 - 13, 2014; click here to see a full list of Public Health Week events.

DeMarco currently serves as president of the Maryland Citizen's Health Initiative. The Initiative is a coalition of more than 1,000 organizations seeking to ensure quality, affordable health care for all residents of Maryland. It was the lead organization working for the Governor's Working Families and Small Business Health Care Coverage Act of 2007 which expanded health care to more than 100,000 uninsured Maryland residents.

DeMarco is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he is working to educate public health students from around the world on effective methods of advocating for public health policies. As National Coordinator of Faith United Against Tobacco, he is also working to mobilize faith leaders across the country to help reduce smoking.

DeMarco has been recognized for his work by organizations such as the Baltimore Sun, which previously declared him "Marylander of the Year" and the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council which awarded him its 2002 "Ecumenical Leadership Award". Families USA also recognized DeMarco at the 2007 Health Action forum as "Health Advocate of the Year."

National Public Health Week will take place April 7 - 13, 2014. The theme for this year is Public Health: Starts Here.